


Another Life

by Dovey



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Interrogation, Mini Fic, Suna Sakura, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17987879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dovey/pseuds/Dovey
Summary: In which Sasuke is still Kakashi's prize apprentice, but Sakura was born in Suna, and Gaara is much happier. These things are not unconnected.





	Another Life

The girl is pressing herself deep into the corner of the room, teeth barred in defiance and arms pressed against the walls. Kakashi gestures back to Sasuke, becaning him closer.

“You want to rise up in the ranks, you have to know the risks. This is what happens when the enemy catches you.” Kakashi says, calmly, and thwacks a hand against the metal bars with the back of his glove- metal hitting metal lets out a ringing noise, and the girl shrieks like an animal. 

“One-eyed bastard.” She hisses, and Kakashi rolls his visible eye in a silent response. 

Sasuke looks closer despite the revulsion in his gut, trying to learn as much as he can. The girl has pink hair, ratty and long and greasy from weeks without wash. She’s covered in filth from the floor of her cell, and the clean sheet on the bed proves she’s been sleeping on the ground instead of on the cot provided. Green eyes, tanned skin- “Suna?” He guesses, and Kakashi pats his shoulder.

“Sakura-chan here was the weak link of her cell. She’s been holding out on us remarkably well, but they all eventually break.” Kakashi confirms, letting himself into the jail cell but closing the bars behind him before Sasuke can follow. Safety procedures, presumably. He sits on the clean, unused bed, and leans down over it to observe the crouching girl. 

“Sasuke-kun, what do you reccomend?” 

It’s a test. He thinks hard, but draws mostly blanks. “Genjutsu?” 

“On a thirteen year old? Her brain is too undeveloped, you know that. We’d likely get nothing and end up ruining any higher functions, preventing other attempts.”

Sasuke does not apologize, but he nods, and it’s close enough as an acknowledgement of a mistake. 

Kakashi tilts his head, staring at the subject of their discussion with a disengaged sort of studiousness. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to talk for the sake of education, hm?” He asks, and she spits at him. He kicks her for it, quick and simple, straight to her ribs. She doesn’t dodge, and Sasuke winces at the sound it makes when the foot lands.

“Well, it was worth a shot.”

It’s odd, but Sasuke is noticing- it must just be the thought of Suna that does it, but some of the dust particles in the air look like grains of sand. He shakes himself, forcing his attention back on the important lesson he’s supposed to be learning. If he wants to beat his big brother, he has to understand torture, the consequences of if his escape from Konoha fail- unlikely as it is.

“Most at this age aren’t used to physical torture, but Suna has always been an exception. Psychological torture is the better option here.” 

“Ah.”

“Good luck with that, bastards.” Sakura spits out, and she must’ve been hit harder than Sasuke thought because her eyes keep flicking around, staring at the air as if there’s something there. Concussion? 

Kakashi places a single foot on her chest, begins slowly pressing forward on what must be fractured ribs, and she gasps in pain but doesn’t even try to avoid getting pressed even further into the wall. 

Sasuke was right, there’s absolutely sand in the cell, and he has no idea how she’s managed it or if it’s meant to help her, but the way the grains are gathering, moving, is unnatural and unnerving.

“Kakashi-” Sasuke begins, but Kakashi cuts him off. 

“I warned you it wouldn’t be easy to watch, Sasuke-kun. It’s not easy to do, either, but it’s essential to Konoha’s future.”

The girl is grinning. The sand is solid. It’s a  _ boy.  _

Kakashi doesn’t even finish turning around, finally sensing the new presence, before he’s devoured by a mound of the sand, and the boy starts to clench his fist and the sand ball grows tighter and tighter before the girl says,

“Kankuro-san will want him as a puppet.” 

The boy sighs, but loosens his fist. “You spoil my siblings.” 

“But I spoil you more, Gaara-kun!”

The boy smiles, and then he takes her hand, and they both fade into that awful moving sand and vanish.

And Sasuke is left, trying to figure out how he’s going to write this as a report without Kakashi to instruct him. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't been able to write anything new lately bc oh my GOD am i busy, but here's an older thing i wrote that i didn't post bc it felt too short. on further reflection: who cares how short it is i had FUN and i know y'all love some dumb aus with gaara in them, so please enjoy.


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